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He was smiling!
Becca’s pulse thundered, galloped, raced to be with him. But she forced herself to slow down. She wasn’t here for herself. She was here to help Katrina. Her love life could take a back seat for now. After all, she’d waited this long, what was two more weeks?
“Hey,” she murmured when she was close enough for him to hear. “Where are you off to?”
He blinked and his eyes shot to the truck. “Oh, I have to pick up my family from the airport.”
“Your family?”
Ethan nodded. “My mom and sister. They’re coming for the wedding…” His voice trailed off and a mask of something she couldn’t read overtook his expression. Was he hiding something? Did he not like the idea of his family meeting her?
It was bound to happen. Everyone here already knew they were spending time together.
Becca pressed her lips into a thin line and hugged her computer tighter to her chest. “Do you want company?”
She didn’t expect him to accept. He clearly wasn’t comfortable with her even knowing his family was coming. Unfortunately, her mouth wouldn’t allow her to be normal.
“Sure.”
Her eyes cut to his. “Really?”
“Yeah. It’s quite a drive. We could talk about?—”
“Tina’s broken engagement.”
“What?”
She nodded vehemently. “I don’t get it. Well, I do to an extent, but really, where does she go from here? I feel like breaking off her engagement would have been the finale and now I’m wondering how she’s going to top it.”
He didn’t say anything right away. Great. There was no way he wouldn’t think she was completely nuts. She wasn’t a gossip. That wasn’t what this was about. She needed to keep Katrina’s wedding safe.
Her face flushed with embarrassment. “Anyway… I thought maybe you would be able to come up with a better theory than me. She made it sound like he broke up with her, but there’s a very real possibility that she planned all of this.” Her blush deepened and she cleared her throat. “Should we get in the truck? When does their plane get in?”
Ethan glanced at the truck once again, probably regretting that he’d bumped into her. Well, that was just great. She’d alienated the one guy she’d felt a connection to in a long time. Now what was she supposed to do?
Regroup, that was what. She wasn’t the kind of girl who would let something good slip between her fingers, was she?
Inwardly, Becca grimaced. That was exactly what she’d done in the past. The weight of the realization hit her hard and she had to draw strength from deep down to force herself to get into the truck when he did.
The awkward silence continued for the next several minutes until they were on the outskirts of the small town. She rested her forearm against the door and stared out the window at the landscape, trying to come up with something to talk about that wouldn’t be completely ridiculous.
The subject of Tina was completely off the table. That much was clear. Glancing at Ethan out of the corner of her eye, Becca suddenly she knew what they could talk about. She scooted a little closer to him.
“Have you ever considered getting tested for dyslexia?” She shifted in her seat, tucking her hands beneath her legs to stop them from shaking. The way she’d blurted out the question wasn’t exactly how she’d seen this conversation going.
Due to the lack of response, he didn’t seem to think this was what they should be discussing either. Unfortunately, once the flood gates had opened, there was nothing she could do to stop it.
“Because I was doing some research about therapy for adults with dyslexia. There are adult literacy classes and there’s therapy, too. I think there are some resources here, but there’s more available in Billings. I bet it wouldn’t take much to just check it out and see how severe your…”
She voice trailed off, noticing the hard planes the muscles in his face had become. She didn’t want to admit that these ideas would allow them to have more time together. If they were in the same city, their relationship could grow even more.
Becca looked out the window. She’d already gone this far. She couldn’t back down now. That would make her look like an idiot. “Really, though. The reason they have programs like that is because they understand that a lot of kids might not have been tested. You’d be surprised at how many kids flew under the radar. Up until the seventies, there were no real advocates for childhood dyslexia, so it’s not surprising that you never?—”
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do,” Ethan murmured, “but I’m going to have to stop you right there. I’m not interested.”
“But—”
He shook his head. “I’m not interested.” This time he said it firmly, his tone unyielding. “I’ve done just fine with what I have. Even if I wanted to, I don’t have the time.”
